


Of The Miserable and Lonely

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Angst and Feels, Anxiety, Bad Days, Brotherly Love, Caretaking, Caring, Carrying, Chase has issues, Depression, Disney Movies, Eventual Happy Ending, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, Mid-Canon, Multiple Selves, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Divorce, They're working through them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 13:18:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15752475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: Marvin is there for Chase on one of his less-than-ideal days.





	Of The Miserable and Lonely

It was one of those days. Marvin could sense it, but even if he hadn’t it was made obvious by the fact that Chase didn’t show up at breakfast. On his good days, he was one of the first to get there, second only to Jackieboy. Whenever the others reached the table, he would be halfway through his mug of coffee, already hyped for hours of filming.

Today was different. Jameson kept casting worried looks at the empty chair, but once their plates were empty and it was considered polite for him to rise, he hesitated.

 **“Should I—?”** he began uncertainly.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Marvin cut him off, rising first. “I’ll see how he’s doing.”

The truth was that he already knew how Chase was doing, he mused somberly as he strode down the hall. He just needed to see how bad it was in comparison to how it used to be. Steeling himself, he squared his shoulders in front of Chase’s bedroom door before pushing it slowly open.

He was still in bed, as Marvin had expected, and he didn’t sit up at the creak of the door. He was buried in the covers, only tousled strands of his hair visible. Marvin left the door open behind him as he padded forward, perching on the edge of the bed without a word. The lump under the covers still didn’t move aside from shallow breaths, but they were shaky. There was no way he was still asleep.

“Hey,” Marvin greeted, keeping his voice soft. “Let me get a look at you.”

“Why? S’not like you’re gonna like what you’re lookin’ at,” Chase mumbled, barely audible.

“Well, you’re pretty muffled under those blankets, so it’d be easier to hear you without them between us, y’know?”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Then you shouldn’t have answered.”

“Oh, look, it’s just another way I’ve screwed up. I _promise_ I won’t do it again.”

Biting back a deep sigh, Marvin leaned over him, lightly placing a hand on the blankets where he estimated Chase’s shoulder was. There he felt the flinch from the younger Ego, but at least he didn’t roll over to escape his reach. That was progress.

“It’s Saturday, Chase—the only full day we get to spend together,” he reminded him. “I want to spend it with you, even if it’s right here like this. Just tell me what I can do to help you right now.”

“I don’t _know_ , okay?”

“…Okay. Do you want me to make a decision for you?”

The silence that dragged after that question was so long that Marvin almost wondered if Chase _had_ fallen asleep again, but just as he was about to retract his hand and rise, shaky fingers crept over the hem of the blankets and heather blue eyes blinked back at him.

“Hi,” Marvin murmured, unable to suppress a grateful smile.

Swallowing audibly, Chase started to speak and then opted against it, merely offering a minute nod. Taking that as an answer to his question, the magician nodded in return, sliding off the bed onto the floor and sweeping his hands together, collecting their warmth. Magic tingled through his nerves, steamed from his pores and collected into light that he spread carefully over Chase, lifting him and his blankets from the bed and into Marvin’s arms.

“There we go,” he grunted as he adjusted to the weighty bundle he had to carry. “Let’s head to the couch.”

As he whisked him out of his room and down the hall, Chase curled in tighter against him, inhaling deeply and holding it as he leaned his head against his shoulder. Marvin didn’t say anything of it, but if Chase noticed him tighten his grip, he didn’t give any indication of it.

The others had cleared away from the breakfast table by now; Jackieboy’s work was the kind that never ended for weekends and Schneep had likely gone to the lab to do some reading, leaving Jameson to fend for himself. He looked up as Marvin and Chase arrived, concern lighting his eyes, but Marvin’s expression apparently got the point across: Chase didn’t need a fuss right now. He just needed quiet and that…that was something Jameson could provide better than most. Chase opened his eyes for a moment, lifting his head as he spotted the youngest Ego, but Jameson deterred him from putting up a front with a wave and an encouraging smile.

 **“I’m popping off to the gardening that awaits me,”** he stated—whether or not he was saying that off the cuff, only he knew. **“Feel better soon, Da.”**

With that he retreated as Marvin transported Chase to the couch, depositing him there and waiting until he’d adjusted his bundle of blankets before sitting next to him. There was a half-empty water bottle on the coffee table, but Chase refused it.

“Think you’ll be more partial to a snack? You haven’t had breakfast,” Marvin mused as he fished through his pockets. It would mean sacrificing the rest of his dark almond chocolate bar, but that was a small price to pay for the faint but detectable spark of interest he earned from Chase at the sight of it. Though he usually had trouble stomaching anything on days like these, it disappeared in short order, so he must have been pretty hungry. Afterwards he drew his knees up to his chest and buried his nose in the blankets. Marvin eyed him silently for a moment or two and then shifted slightly.

“We could see what’s on,” he commented, gesturing to the remote. “I’ve heard about this new murder mystery series that has everybody freaking out. I’ll bet we could figure out who did it within the first episode.”

“…I’m sorry,” Chase whispered, causing Marvin’s heart to sink. Blinking hard, he ducked closer to his knees, hiding his face even as he continued, “I—I’m sorry for being such a burden. I’ll be fine, I swear. I’m just overreacting. I’ll get past it.”

“Stop that,” Marvin warned sternly. “You have every right to be upset, alright? Stop apologizing for having feelings. I’m here for you.”

“But I don’t, Marv, I _don’t_. I don’t have ‘every right to be upset’, not after this long. I’m just being stupid and overemotional and I don’t—” Breath hitching, he curled his fingers into the blankets’ folds, his knuckles turning white. “I don’t want to keep _doing_ this. I’m tired of being broken and fixed again! I just want to be over it!”

“Chase, people heal at their own paces. You can’t rush this, no matter how much as you want to. You have to take care of yourself.”

Another terribly long silence reigned there, broken by nothing but Chase’s stifled sniffling. At long last he looked up, dragging the back of his hands over his eyes.

“I don’t think I’m up for taking care of myself today,” he admitted thickly.

Without a second thought, Marvin slid an arm around him, using a hand on the side of his neck to ease him down so his head was in his lap. As Chase settled with a shuddery sigh, Marvin combed steady fingers through his hair, promising lowly, “I’ll take care of you.”

With that, he snatched up the remote, switching on the television and flipping through channels until he happened across The Little Mermaid. Chase stirred at the sight of it and Marvin couldn’t help but smile slightly at their good fortune. He knew it was his favorite Disney movie even if he’d never confessed to it, so he kept it on.

It wasn’t long before he was waving his hands mystically about, singing along to Poor Unfortunate Souls while Chase was torn between laughing and crying at his nightmarish Ursula impression as he begged him to stop bouncing his knees around before he got a headache. As soon as the scene ended, Marvin settled and allowed Chase to catch his breath, but he didn’t overlook the fact that the younger Ego was still chuckling weakly between each gasp.

To get a genuine laugh out of him on a day like this was a definite win. The sound created a tight ball of warmth in Marvin’s chest as he laughed gently too, squeezing Chase’s shoulder.

Sometimes healing happened in unexpected ways.


End file.
